Usagi Yojimbo, Vol. 26: Traitors of The Earth
Created Written and Illustrated by Stan Sakai
Introduction by Walter Simonson
Editor Diana Schutz
Assistant Editor: Brendan Wright
Design & Digital Production: Cary Grazzini
Publisher: Mike Richardson
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 27, 2012
Cover Price: $16.99

Well, that’s it. Zombies have officially taken over. First that Walking Dead Stuff, then the Marvel Zombies. Before I knew it they were skulking about the bridge of the USS Enterprise and then that Blackest Night thing, but if they can make it all the way into the pages of Usagi Yojimbo then where else is there to go? Eightball?

Seriously, though, for better or for worse, in spite of the kick-ass cover, the living dead have not infected Stan Sakai‘s Talking-Animals/Feudal-Era-Japan, his samurai rabbit heroes’ morals do not get tested when he has to decide to hack off the head of a bitten loved one; in fact, it takes up a relatively small portion of this volume. As anyone who’s been following this book for years will tell you, anything goes here. Usagi Yojimbo Volume 26 has zombies, hidden fortresses, assassination plots, dudes getting stabbed to death, water spirits, former allys seeking vengece, and an evil wizard that reminded me of a Skeksie from the Dark Crystal. So, yeah, it’s not just ‘Usagi Fights The Zombies’ here. But, by the way, it is there. And it’s awesome.

Terminator/Robocop: Kill Human #2
Written by Rob Williams
Art by P.J. Holden
Colors by Rainer Petter
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Walter Simonson, Jonathan Lau, Tom Feister
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 7, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

There’s nothing quite like a good mash-up, no matter the art form. When an artist takes two distinct pieces and combines them well, that is the mark of true brilliance. Well, put together Robocop and Terminator, and you have a geek’s dream come true!

Come with me on a journey to the future…and the past. In the future, Robocop has seen all the horrors that Skynet is responsible for. In an effort to change the course of history and stop the evil before it happens, he travels back in time and finds himself in the days when Sarah Connor and her young son John struck down Cyberdyne Systems. A battle ensues when he encounters the second time-travelling Terminator, whom he perceives as a threat.

At this year’s WonderCon back in April, IDW Publishing announced the upcoming release of a new artist’s edition hardcover of Walt Simonson‘s classic 7-issue run on Marvel’s The Mighty Thor. Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition will be released this July and is available now for pre-order.

Today, IDW has announced that they will be offering a limited edition of only 300 copies with a variant cover that will be available only at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con in July. You can pre-order Walter Simonson’s Thor Artist’s Edition Variant Cover Edition online now direct from IDW and then pick it up at the convention, or purchase it at the IDW booth during the Con (if you pre-order online, you can ONLY pick it up at the convention; there’s NO options for shipping).

Check out the cover art here below.

Also, Walter Simonson will be appearing at the IDW booth during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, signing copies of The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition.

It’s time to begin our Thor – Week of Geek, leading up to Marvel’s highly anticipated film Thor, out in theaters this Friday.

To kick off the event, you can get to reading some discounted digital comic books from the Thor universe over at ComiXology, which is running a sale today on Loki issues #1-4 by and Balder the Brave issues #1-4 for only 99 cents each.

Note, the sale is only for today, Monday, May 2, 2011 and ends at 11pm EST in North America.

You can download the digital versions for the iPad or iPhone of issues of these two Thor-related Marvel comic book series for only $.99 each at the ComiXology App.